Pandemic
by Ayla Pascal
Summary: A strange flu-like illness appears that sends people crazy. Thirteen/Cuddy.


Pete Richards had been sick for over two weeks now. His mother had brought him over to his local GP twice but each time, they had been reassured that he had nothing but a simple cold.

"Nothing to worry about," the doctor said confidently. "He'll be up and playing basketball in no time." He smiled and patted Pete on the arm.

Pete wanted to protest that he never played basketball but was overcome with a fit of coughing. He was finding it harder and harder to breathe after coughing nowadays. It was as if something was constricting his chest, or as if a giant elephant was sitting on him.

"Bedrest and lots of liquids," the doctor told them.

But Pete just didn't seem to be getting better. He had now been sick for sixteen days, missed two weeks of school and this morning, he had started coughing up blood. Almost immediately, his mother had bundled him up into the car and driven him to Princeton-Plainsboro. "You'll be fine, Pete, sweetheart," she whispered to him. But her grip was tight on his hand.

Pete sat in the waiting room with his mother, and about thirty other sick, sniffling people, until a pretty brunette female doctor called out, "Peter Richardson?"

-***-

Thirteen patted the boy's arm. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to get something," she said, her voice muffled from behind her mask. She made sure her face was calm. There was no use in unduly alarming the patients, but inwardly, she could feel her heart pounding.

The boy nodded, but his mother looked worried. "It isn't anything..." she said, lowering her voice, "serious, is it?"

Thirteen shook her head and tried her best to look reassuring. Once outside the room, she closed the door and slumped against the door.

Cuddy strode over and looked at her quizzically.

"It's another case," Thirteen said softly. "Tenth one this week."

Cuddy bit her lip.

"We can't keep this quiet," Thirteen said quietly, but urgently. "I know what the CDC said about not instigating a public panic, but this isn't contained. I have a twelve year old boy in there." She breathed out slowly.

Cuddy shook her head. "My hands are tied."

-***-

Pete had been at Princeton-Plainsboro for over a week now. A few days ago, he began to feel better, or at least more energetic. His mother was beginning to look happier and had finally begun to go back to work again.

"Your temperature is back down to normal," the pretty brunette doctor said to him, with a smile. "You should be out of here in no time!"

Pete nodded. "Good," he croaked out. Absently, he scratched an itch that was growing on his left wrist. "My arm's sort of itchy though," he complained.

The doctor looked concerned and examined his arm. "It looks like an insect bite. I'll get a nurse to come by later with some calamine lotion."

Pete grinned up at her and was pleased to see her smile again. She really was very pretty. He glared down at his arm and scratched some more. It was beginning to feel like a slight burning feeling, but he wanted to show the doctor and his mother that he was brave. Besides, the doctor said that it was nothing.

-***-

More and more cases of the new mysterious flu-like illness kept on arriving. The media stressed things like hand-washing and staying home from work. Thirteen heard of several deaths in other hospitals as well as some very strange stories about patients going insane and attacking their doctors but she dismissed them as ridiculous rumours caused by stress. The number of people admitted to Princeton-Plainsboro for flu-like illnesses increased dramatically.

It was only ten days after Pete Richards was admitted that the CDC moved in and declared that the new illness was becoming an epidemic.

-***-

Thirteen didn't think she had ever seen Cuddy look so stressed. Men in military uniforms – she supposed that they might be army or something, but she wasn't sure – patrolled the hallways. CDC and USAMRIID doctors rushed to and fro in isolation suits. She had tried to inquire as to how the little boy was, but they refused to answer.

She could tell that House was growing increasingly irritable. Despite his diagnostic skills, he had been pushed aside by the CDC experts who claimed that they had jurisdiction over this illness.

Jurisdiction over an illness. That was the most ridiculous thing Thirteen had ever heard of.

"Fever, coughing up blood, respiratory distress, itchy skin. What could it be?" House snapped as he hit the table leg with his cane.

Taub stared up at him. "I thought we didn't have control of those cases now that the CDC and USAMRIID are here."

House narrowed his eyes. "What could it be?" he repeated.

Thirteen was surprised. House hadn't even taken the opportunity to make a joke or to sneer at Taub as was customary. It was obvious that he was worried. She heard the door open behind her and turned around. Cuddy was standing there. She gestured at Thirteen to follow her.

-***-

As they walked down the corridors, Thirteen noticed one of the CDC men running away from Pete Richard's room. He was in an isolation suit, but he was holding his hand out. Other men ran after him.

"Breach in quarantine," Cuddy explained, closing her eyes briefly. "Apparently the child went crazy and bit one of his doctors."

Thirteen frowned. When she had been the kid's doctor, he had seemed very calm and brave. Except for a tendency of looking down her top, he had been one of her favourite patients. "Is Pete all right?"

"He's sedated for now," Cuddy said.

Thirteen couldn't help study Cuddy as they walked. Despite the stress, Cuddy looked almost normal. She was dressed as elegantly as she normally was and Thirteen felt a twinge of attraction as her eyes passed over Cuddy's cleavage. When she had first started working at Princeton-Plainsboro, Thirteen was quite amazed that they allowed Cuddy to wear such revealing suits. It obviously distracted House and Thirteen didn't want to admit that she was distracted as well. "What do you need me for?" she asked.

"To go over the details of the course of the disease with the CDC doctors again," Cuddy said.

"Again?" Thirteen stopped and pursed her lips.

Cuddy spread her arms. "It's out of my hands. I apparently don't give the orders around here any more." She snorted in disgust.

-***-

The disease spread like wildfire.

Thirteen couldn't help noticing that almost half of the people she saw in the hospital were scratching themselves and coughing. She supposed that it was fortunate that there didn't seem to be too many deaths. Just a few isolated cases of supposed insanity in patients.

However, she still felt a shiver of fear when she saw Foreman cough and sneeze. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Foreman waved off her concern. "I'm fine," he said irritably. "Just a cold."

Thirteen couldn't help feeling hurt. Ever since they broke up, Foreman had been unnecessarily polite to her whenever they had to speak and even then, he seemed like he couldn't bear to look at her. She was sorry that the relationship had ended, but not sorry enough to start it up again. She didn't want to drag Foreman down with her. She didn't want to see him suffer through what her dad had suffered through. Plus, she had to admit it to herself, she just didn't like him that much to want to make it work.

"You should get tested," she said quietly.

-***-

Thirteen was surprised when she saw Pete Richards out of his bed and wandering the corridors, out of the isolation area. "Pete!" she exclaimed. "You shouldn't be here."

He turned around, looking blankly at her. She shivered at the expression, or lack thereof, in the boy's eyes. To her horror, he began to run towards her, snarling. She pushed him back, holding him away from her as he gnashed his teeth, attempting to bite her neck.

"Help!" Thirteen yelled. She didn't want to hurt the kid, but she didn't think she had a choice. He was incredibly, impossibly strong for his age, and she didn't think she could keep him at bay for much longer.

To her relief, doctors in isolation suits grabbed him and pulled him off her. One of them injected him with something and he went limp.

-***-

"It seems as if those rumours are accurate," Thirteen said. She wrapped her arms around her body and looked down. "There seems to be," she swallowed, before continuing, "a complete neural breakdown."

House's eyes gleamed, while everybody else looked worried.

"This seems to be getting out of control," Taub said, his voice flat.

Just then, Cuddy burst into the room. "House," she snapped. "The CDC and USAMRIID need your help."

House leaned backwards on his chair and twirled his cane in his fingers. "Tell them to come here."

Cuddy shook her head. "I don't have time for this," she said. "House, this is turning into a pandemic. There have been cases reported in Canada and Mexico. I don't have time for your histrionics."

Slowly, House stood up. "You owe me at least 40 hours off clinic duty for this."

Cuddy shrugged. "Just go, House."

Thirteen watched as the entire team dutifully followed House out of the room. She was about to do the same when Cuddy grabbed hold of her arm. She winced slightly from the tight grip. Close up, Cuddy was looking more and more frazzled. Her makeup was smudged slightly and there was a tiny smear of sauce on Cuddy's cheek. Thirteen felt the irrational urge to lean in and lick it off.

"I'm going to be gone for a few hours," Cuddy said, after a pause. "I need to check in on my nanny. She hasn't been responding to any of my calls. I need you to keep an eye on House."

Thirteen raised an eyebrow. "Why me?"

Cuddy looked at her, and for a brief second, it felt as though they were thinking on the same wavelength. Thirteen had the crazy idea that Cuddy wanted to kiss her. But then, the moment passed. "I trust you," Cuddy said seriously.

-***-

Thirteen began to get worried when Cuddy didn't reappear in three hours. She tried to just tell herself that it was just traffic. Whenever she looked at the news reports, it seemed as though there were traffic jams everywhere. In fact, one news reporter was going on about riots around several of the other hospitals in the city.

The situation in the hospital was getting worse. She and the rest of House's team were shunted off into a small windowless room to attempt to diagnose the patients without seeing or talking to them. House seemed to be taking it quite well, but then again, he tended to do most of his diagnosing without seeing the patient.

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Thirteen muttered to herself.

Taub glared at her. "Cuddy is capable of looking after herself. You need to be doing your job."

House didn't even answer, but Thirteen could see a flicker of worry pass through his eyes. He then turned back to staring at the whiteboard, tapping his cane on the floor.

-***-

The atmosphere in the hospital was becoming almost frantic. There were guards at every entrance and no hospital employee was allowed to leave. Every person testing positive for the illness was taken away to an isolated part of the hospital by the CDC.

Thirteen was beginning to feel tendrils of terror gripping her. All televisions were unplugged and every time she tried to get information about the outside world, her concerns were brushed off. Whenever she saw House, the circles underneath his eyes seemed to get darker.

And Cuddy still hadn't returned.

It was a full 48 hours after Cuddy had left that Thirteen decided to go after her.

-***-

Thirteen looked around surreptitiously and then marched towards the hospital door. The guards at the door looked at her stolen USAMRIID badge and then waved her through. Once outside, she hurried to her car and took off her isolation suit. It was surprisingly quiet outside, a far cry from the noise and bustle of inside the hospital. Thirteen frowned. She couldn't hear any traffic, but far off, she thought she could hear screams.

Thirteen slid behind the wheel and looked at the slip of paper she held in her hand. Surprisingly, Cuddy seemed to live quite close to her.

-***-

She knocked gingerly on Cuddy's door. During her car ride here, Thirteen had noticed that the streets seemed almost empty except for a few isolated pockets of activity. She tried tuning the radio but all she got was static. Thirteen did her best in steering the car away from any people she could see. They seemed to be rioting. They were all hitting, screaming, punching and chasing after each other. She didn't want any part in that.

There was no answer at the door.

With a quick look around, Thirteen knelt down and began to pick the lock. She once had a girlfriend who taught her several interesting skills. "Ah!" she exclaimed, after a few minutes. She twisted the door handle and stepped inside.

The first thing Thirteen noticed was that it was dark, very dark. She tried to turn the lights on, but none of the switches worked.

She pushed open the door of the kitchen. Almost immediately, a figure rushed at her out of the darkness. It swung something at her head, and Thirteen ducked.

Then suddenly, the figure wrapped its arms around Thirteen. "Oh thank god you're here," Cuddy gasped. "I didn't think anybody would come.

Thirteen nodded and patted Cuddy awkwardly on the back. "It's okay."

Cuddy laughed quietly. "You haven't seen ..." She broke off before continuing again. "You haven't seen everything that's out there. You haven't seen what people are turning into. They seem to be ... mutating and this mutation is getting increasingly fast."

Thirteen ignored the shiver of fear that slid down her back. She looked around and noticed a small bundle of food on the kitchen table. "We should go back to the hospital," she suggested. "It's safe there."

Cuddy stared at her. "No," she said flatly, her voice almost emotionless. "You were lucky. I got home and realised that both my nanny and baby were gone. For all I know, my baby's dead. When I tried to call, all the phone lines were busy. When I went outside again, my car had been completely destroyed by people who seemed like they were... possessed." She shivered. "I tried to get back to the hospital but there are rioting crowds everywhere. They tried to chase me, but I hid and then managed to back here."

Thirteen frowned. "The streets are almost empty now." She couldn't help but notice that her voice sounded flat, with a note of finality that she didn't like.

That news didn't seem to make Cuddy any happier. "That probably means the mutation is worse now."

Thirteen reached over and laid a hand on Cuddy's shoulder. Cuddy looked down at the hand, almost as though she didn't know why it was there. It was only then that Thirteen noticed that Cuddy didn't look like she had slept in the past few days. Thirteen couldn't blame her. She hadn't been doing a whole lot of sleeping herself. She reached up with her hand and caressed the side of Cuddy's cheek. "We'll get through this," she said. Cuddy looked at her and Thirteen felt a surge of attraction.

To her surprise, Cuddy stepped towards her. There was a strange look in her eyes. If Thirteen didn't know better, she would have thought that Cuddy wanted to... but no, that was ridiculous. As far as she knew, Cuddy liked men.

"You're trembling," Cuddy said, sounding concerned. "Are you all right?"

With a deep breath, Thirteen pulled herself together. This was not the right time to go about fantasising about somebody, especially her boss. "I'm good," she said quickly. Cuddy was still standing close to her, very close. Thirteen could smell the remnants of the perfume Cuddy was wearing days ago. It had been a rich smell of poppies but now it had faded away to a very slight sweetness. Thirteen wanted to bury her face in Cuddy's neck and kiss the other woman until her knees buckled.

Cuddy lifted her hand up and pressed two fingers on Thirteen's neck. "Your pulse is racing. Your breathing is shallow."

Thirteen tried to step backwards, but she found herself frozen in place. "It's the situation," she tried to explain. "I'm concerned."

Cuddy smiled slightly. "You're beautiful, did you know that?"

Thirteen stared, surprised by the comment. "What?"

"I've always ..." Cuddy trailed off and shook her head. "What am I saying? We need to find a way to get back to the hospital. We need to find my baby. We need to find a cure for this." She turned away, but Thirteen grabbed her arm.

Thirteen was going to agree with Cuddy. She was going to agree that they needed to get out of here but somehow she found herself stepping forward, covering the last few centimetres between them with one small step and then she found herself kissing Cuddy. Thirteen had always enjoyed kissing women. Their lips were softer than men and there was no irritating stubble. Instead, there was rose soft skin and the feeling of breasts pressed up against her own.

Thirteen felt Cuddy stiffen briefly, before, to her surprise, Cuddy's arms wrapped around her waist.

-***-

"I've... never done this before," Cuddy said as they ended up on the bed.

Thirteen smiled. "Just lie back," she urged, and pressed a soft kiss on Cuddy's lips. "You don't need to do anything." She had always enjoyed teasing her lovers, licking, kissing until they were begging for release. Slowly, Thirteen unbuttoned Cuddy's shirt and undid her bra. She leaned down and licked a nipple.

Cuddy moaned and tried to sit up.

"Just enjoy it," Thirteen said softly. She began to unzip Cuddy's skirt and eased it down over Cuddy's legs. She marvelled at the smoothness of Cuddy's skin and leaned over to press a kiss on her stomach. She reached up and brushed between Cuddy's legs and was pleased to feel wetness, even through Cuddy's underwear.

Pushing the underwear aside, Thirteen licked and was rewarded by a loud moan. Cuddy tasted slightly salty with just a hint of sweetness. Thirteen decided she could become addicted to that taste and the way Cuddy was moving, breathing and responding to her licks.

-***-

Afterwards, as they were getting dressed, Cuddy was silent. Thirteen could tell that she was thinking of her baby, the situation, how on earth they were going to be getting back to the hospital. She still could taste Cuddy on her lips and just the taste reminded her of how responsive Cuddy was in bed, how much Cuddy had arched up to her touch and the moans Cuddy had made.

Thirteen shook her head slightly. There was plenty of time to figure out the details of this particular relationship after the pandemic was over.

There was a sudden loud crashing sound from the front yard.

They both stared at each other and with one movement, they ran towards the front door. From the small windows next to the front door, Thirteen could see snarled faces and rabid expressions. Thirteen reached the door first, and pressed all of her weight against it.

"They've found us," Cuddy breathed as she hurried over with a chair. Thirteen stepped aside as Cuddy jammed the chair underneath the doorknob. "We need to go somewhere safer. The basement. But first..."

"Food," Thirteen said, nodding. "I'll get that, you fill up containers with water."

-***-

Cuddy bolted the door of the basement shut and together, both of them pushed chairs and tables against it. From the sound of it, the crowd had managed to break the glass next to the front door. Doubtless they would be within the house at any second.

"We have food and water," Thirteen said, trying to stay positive. She squinted up at the ceiling and noticed a small air vent. "And air."

Cuddy nodded and sat down on the floor, wrapping her arms around herself.

"They'll find us," Thirteen said, as much to herself as to Cuddy. "When we don't get back to the hospital, House will send somebody after us." She shivered and sat down beside Cuddy. Thirteen was surprised that she was the one being positive. She had spent so long being resigned to her illness that she didn't expect to die any other way. She just couldn't die because of this flu illness that turned people into crazed monsters. She just couldn't.

"I hope so," Cuddy said.

Thirteen reached over and wrapped her arms around Cuddy, who leaned into her embrace. "They'll find us," she repeated. "We'll get out of this."

-fin


End file.
